“…So Sebastian has agreed to it?”
“He has. Haven’t you, Sebastian?”
“Yes. While there are some conditions, I have agreed to bring it back with us.”
“I suppose…it is all right then…”
Ms. Lyra was satisfied by Sebastian’s answer and began to mutter, ‘a fenrir pup…it is indeed cute…’ And then she returned to the pot that hung over the fire, and began to serve everyone their food.
As I hadn’t eaten anything but herbs since lunch, I was very hungry.
And so I took my wooden plate and waited in line with Phillip and the others.
It was the familiar orc and vegetable soup, as we had limited supplies while camping out here.
But while it was familiar, it was still delicious, and we didn’t tire of it.
As we all ate our food, we told Ms. Lyra and Johanna about what we had seen while searching through the forest.
Phillip and Nicholas did most of the talking.
I felt that there was some exaggeration when they got to the part where I used Weed Cultivation, but I didn’t correct them.
They were so excited as they talked about it, and I didn’t want to interrupt them.
Though, I did feel quite awkward when such talk resulted in Ms. Lyra and Johanna giving me looks of astonishment and admiration.
“Still, Lady Claire. Are you really fine with leaving the forest now?”
Johanna asked Ms. Claire when they were finished.
“Yes, it is fine. I feel that nothing good will come from staying here much longer. We’ve already taken longer than planned. Besides, we did find a real fenrir. It’s proof that there are others.”
“…That is true… Up until now, humans never went this deep into this forest. And so no fenrirs have been sighted since the founder. But now you can refute those who would say that there are no more fenrirs here.”
“Yes. If I am being honest, I had hopes of meeting a Silver Fenrir, just like my ancestor, but this is enough.”
“Very well. If that is how you feel, Lady Claire, then I will not argue.”
“I am glad to hear that.”
Ms. Claire and Johanna finished talking, and everyone seemed to agree with her that finding the fenrir was enough of an achievement.
For a while, we surrounded the campfire and rested. And just as we started to talk about sleep, the fenrir that was in Ms. Claire’s arms suddenly stirred.
As Ms. Claire carried it, the closed eyelids opened, and its red eyes looked up at Ms. Claire’s face.
Leo, who had been curled up next to me, also realized that it was awake, and she stood up and approached the fenrir.
The fenrir turned away from Ms. Claire to look at Leo. And then it let out a fearful yelp.
It could tell that Leo was a Silver Fenrir.
“It is fine. Good Leo will not attack you. Do not worry.”
Ms. Claire patted the fenrir’s back as she talked to it gently.
Leo moved slowly so as not to frighten the fenrir, and then rubbed her large cheek against it.
Apparently, Leo and the fenrir were talking.
I could not understand what the fenrir was trying to say, but it looked like Leo was saying that it shouldn’t worry.
Then the fenrir turned its head and looked at its surroundings.
It was trying to understand the situation it was in.
The fenrir sounded like it wanted something.
Leo realized this and spoke to it in a concerned voice.
…Perhaps the fenrir was looking for its parents?
The voice had reminded me of when I first found Leo. She had that weak voice as if asking for help. As if wanting her parents.
I had heard it faintly through the rain. The voice that called to her parents, or anyone who might listen.
“What is it, Good Leo?”
Leo moved away from the fenrir and went over to Ms. Lyra.
She prodded the pot with her front paws and tilted her head as if to say, ‘There is no more?’
“I think Leo is asking if there is more food.”
“Even I could understand what she meant just now, Mr. Takumi. However, there is no more, since everyone ate it… However… I could make something simple if you don’t mind waiting?”
Said Ms. Lyra, and Leo nodded as if making a request.
“Very well. Just wait one moment.”
Ms. Lyra took out some leftover orc meat from her bag, as well as some vegetable scraps.
…I hadn’t realized that we were so low on vegetables.
It was a good thing we had decided to return tomorrow.
The orc meat was as delicious as any luxury meat, but even it would feel plain without some vegetables.
After seeing that Ms. Lyra was cooking, Leo returned to Ms. Claire and put her face close to the fenrir.
When Leo said something to the fenrir, it raised its voice happily.
“Good Leo. What did it say?”
Ms. Claire asked. Leo looked at her sadly once and then moved her mouth as if chewing.
…It was hungry… I think.
“She says that it’s hungry.”
“I see…so that’s why Lyra is…”
As the fenrir pup was hungry, Leo had asked Lyra to make something.
Because Lyra had been the cook during this whole expedition.
In that case…perhaps the fenrir had been yelping and yipping earlier because it was hungry?
It wasn’t asking for help or for its parents, but because it wanted food… Perhaps I was just getting sentimental with thoughts of Leo’s past…
Well, at least I had just been thinking that and not saying it out loud…or it would have been embarrassing…
And so I shook my head once and drove such thoughts away.
And then I walked over to Ms. Lyra, who was cooking, in order to ask her something.